Yesterday I shared lunch with my sister Mauna, my brother-in-law Nick, my godson/nephew George and my niece Claire who brought the star of the show, her and Cody’s new daughter Frances. It was truly a blessing. As we sat down for a wonderful German lunch in San Francisco our waiter on seeing Frances began to share that his sister just gave birth to twins and that with a health complication that one of the twins was having they needed to separate them soon after birth. He commented on how he thought it would have been better to keep them together since they had been so intimately tied to each other in the womb for those nine months of growth and blessing.

Of course, medically speaking, we can all understand the need to separate the two new born babies and the special care that the one will receive to, we pray, live a happy, healthy and holy life. What I did find interesting was his, our waiters, innate and instinctive understanding about life within the womb and the connectedness of human beings from the very beginning of life. It is a sense that seems almost naturally to flow from our experience of life when we see the wonder of God’s gifts, especially the gift of new life given and shared.

I believe, just as important was his comment on the connectedness of human beings, how the intimacy of touch, development and love grows and grows as we spend time with one another. In natural way being connected to another is good for us. It is the spontaneous and surprising gift of self that happens when we grow in the recognition of the dignity, the sameness and the difference in blessing of being created in the image of our God.

This is the wonder of our relationship with God and each other: when we spend time together, we grow together through the shared experience, in the joys and sorrows, of life. So how do we practically see this in our lives?

In my personal experience, as a priest, I am called to share my time, talent and treasure with God’s holy people…but just as importantly with my brother priests. Like any relationship I can and do get very busy in my daily life and this can and does affect my relationships with my brother priests as it does with God’s holy people. When I choose not to extend myself towards a relationship with others then my ability to love, forgive and act in compassion towards them diminishes and my health, spiritually, mentally and physically begins to suffer. (I read somewhere that doctors say this is true) And when I do extend myself, just the opposite happens and I find myself a happier, holier and healthier priest. I believe this is what our waiter was intuiting, when he despaired that the twins were being separated, happy, healthy and holy comes from being together.

We know this is true. Husbands and wives have happier, healthier and holier relationships when they choose to be in unity sharing themselves and taking time to just be man and woman with each other. Families grow in bonds of love when they choose to play, pray and be together in conversations of blessing, both joy and sorrow, talking and sharing life in all its aspects. And our faith is vibrant and alive when we seek to recognize God in all that surrounds us in gratitude in the creation he brings to life.

Let us pray today that we my reach out and touch the other in our life so we may all grow in

happiness, healthfulness and holiness in the image of our God.

God Bless

Fr. Mark